


An Offer Barry Could Definitely Refuse

by anakatieskywalker



Series: A Stranger World [5]
Category: Batman - All Media Types, Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice, DC Cinematic Universe, DCU, Justice League (2017), Justice League - All Media Types
Genre: Awkward Conversations, Barry Allen Needs a Hug, Bruce has good kids, Gen, Jason Todd is Alive, no editing we die like robins
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-05-05
Updated: 2020-05-05
Packaged: 2021-03-03 02:26:47
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 966
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24017443
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/anakatieskywalker/pseuds/anakatieskywalker
Summary: Barry Allen was alone in the world, and then he wasn’t.Truthfully, Bruce has some pretty good kids. Even if their excuses to make friends with the resident speedster are a bit flimsy.
Relationships: Barry Allen & Bat-Fam, Barry Allen & Bruce Wayne, Barry Allen & Dick Grayson, Barry Allen & Jason Todd, Barry Allen & Tim Drake
Series: A Stranger World [5]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/882144
Comments: 10
Kudos: 291





	An Offer Barry Could Definitely Refuse

**Author's Note:**

> So I know this is literally the first update in 2 years, idk who's going to read this, but damn I needed to publish something. This is basically an interim blurb while I decide where I want to go next, enjoy.

Barry Allen learned very early on to be alone. After his mother died, no one really wanted to associate with him, so he was alone. It was better that way, or at least that’s what he told himself, he didn’t really understand most people anyway, social cues were a lost cause. 

And then Bruce Wayne showed up in his warehouse when Barry was twenty-something, faster than should be humanly possible, and building a life as a vigilante while trying to get his dad out from behind bars. 

Barry Allen was alone in the world, and then he wasn’t. 

Bruce Wayne was just a rich guy, and then he wasn’t. 

Batman had partners, and then he didn’t, and now he was building a team again.

_ (Yeah, Barry always thought the dude was cool growing up, sue him.) _

And he wanted Barry on that team, so now, did that mean Barry wasn’t alone anymore? That’s the way Diana and Victor made it seem, Clark was cool, but more like a teacher. Apparently he and Bruce had devised a plan to make Barry faster, better, stronger. A real hero, whether Bruce would admit to it or not. Arthur was like an intimidating older brother, always telling Barry not to touch his alcohol & to leave him alone, while Victor was more like the partner-in-crime kind of brother. 

Or, the partner-in-hero-ing kind. 

Either way, Victor was cool. The kind of guy that Barry thought would maybe have been willing to be friends with him even without saving the world, and technically being dead things added in. 

Yeah, Victor was really cool.

And then Bruce’s sons showed up, although they’re not really his sons, Barry knows how adoption works. People used to consider adopting him, before they found out that he had seen his mom die and his dad was in prison for it.

It didn’t matter that Barry said his dad didn’t do it, a kid whose dad was in prison and talked about a strange man in yellow was apparently even worse than he thought. Bad enough that the people who had been interested in Barry for his intellect, no longer were.

So Barry was never adopted, he was alone.

Bruce’s sons were an odd topic, especially because one was supposed to be dead, like Victor, another grew up in a circus, the third was apparently in charge of Bruce’s company, and had actually been born into another rich family.

The fourth… well, Barry would know more about him if it weren’t for the fact that the kid was scary. Like,  _ really scary. _ He’d threatened to kill Barry when they first met, and he honestly thought the kid would be capable of doing it.

Not that he thought that Bruce would let that happen, and if he did, Diana would surely get onto him; but Barry knew better than to test his luck where tiny assassin children were involved. He wasn’t that big of a lost cause.

When Barry gets called to the Batcave, he doesn’t think much about it. Bruce has decided that ensuring the speedster survived and was well equipped would be a pet project, and Barry’s broke, so he can’t complain. As long as he doesn’t ask the wrong questions, Bruce is happy to have him there.

Except, when Barry gets to the cave, Bruce isn’t there. Instead, Bruce’s sons _ \--wards?-- _ are waiting for him. That’s not normal. The children of Billionaire Bruce Wayne, aka The Batman, usually give Barry a wide berth. Like they think if they stand too close, Barry will become the Roadrunner and they’ll be Wile E Coyote. And yeah, Barry can make some jokes, go  _ ‘Meep, Meep.’ _ in his head, but he doesn’t say it outloud.

Because, well.

Everyone else is a  _ lot _ cooler than Barry Allen.

Back to the matter at hand, Dick, Jason, and Tim are standing there, waiting for him.  _ (The small assassin one isn’t there, and Barry won’t admit it, but he feels relieved.)  _

“Oh, sorry. I thought Bruce called me, I-I can go.” The words come out of his mouth, and Barry immediately wishes he could shove them back in. Because he doesn’t want to go. He really wants to be able to have some positive human interactions to tell his dad about next time he goes to visit.

“No, that was us. We called you.” Dick answers him, and really, Barry thinks his name doesn’t suit him. He’s way too nice.

“Seriously?”

“Seriously.”

That was… surprising, and Barry’s pretty sure the expression on his face says just that.

“We’re going to play MarioKart, upstairs. Damian’s still at school, and playing with just three people makes the screen weird.” Tim’s the one who speaks up then.

“Yeah, and Bruce said you had a decent game set up where you live, so we figured you would be the best fourth guy.”

“Oh, really?” Putting his foot in his mouth was something Barry was sure he could do in his sleep at this point. “I mean, yeah! I love MarioKart.”

“Go change out of the red get up, Alfred’s got a rule about uniforms upstairs.” Jason jerked his head towards the staircase, “Last one upstairs has to play as Toad.”

Barry’s pretty sure he’s never changed faster in all his time as the Flash. Not that he has to worry, Dick and Jason basically guaranteed Tim will be playing as Toad, having tied his shoelaces together at some point.

Barry gets to be Yoshi, which isn’t in his normal color scheme, but he’s making it work.

In the end, Barry’s ready to take back his earlier thoughts. Dick is definitely a fitting name for the oldest of Bruce Wayne’s sons. (And Alfred made enough cookies to feed a speedster, his dad was definitely going to hear about this day.)

**Author's Note:**

> Let me know what you think of this part, who you think I should bring in next, or just what you've done while at home so that I know someone actually read this. :)


End file.
